


Lost and Found

by melannen



Category: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Future Fic, Other, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-21
Updated: 2011-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-21 14:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melannen/pseuds/melannen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ranma Saotome," Ryoga said, not turning away from the sunset. "How did you find me?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

He was sitting on a cliff-top watching the sun set when he felt someone land next to him. He knew that presence: he knew it as well as he knew anything. He had spent a year searching for it, and then spent several _more_ years trying to find it again, and then realized that without that search, he didn't have anything to do except lose himself. So he did.

"Ranma Saotome," Ryoga said, not turning away from the sunset. "How did you find me?"

Ramna shrugged, and answered in high girlish tones: "I just went for whatever place you seemed least likely to be trying to find," she said. "Plus, there's a huge pig farm about three miles that way."

"Ah," Ryoga said, then swung around to face her. "WHY did you find me?"

"Ah. Well. That," Ranma said, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "Akane and me, well -- and the dojo, and you know, it seemed - plus there's the -- damn it, I can't do this like this. Gimme a minute." She dug into the backpack she was carrying and came up with a Thermos, screwed the lid off, and poured it over herself. "There," Ranma said, back in his boy-form, "Much better. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea."

"You carry a Thermos now," Ryoga said. "Clever."

"Yeah," he said, and rubbed his neck again. "Well. I've had to start thinkin' ahead some, now that me an' Akane are married and runnin' the dojo and stuff."

"I'm surprised she let you go running off to find me," he said, not letting any of the old pain show in his voice. Akane had chosen Ranma - finally - and that was her choice; he had to accept it.

"It was her idea, actually," Ranma said, leaning back on his hands. "We need someone else to help with the dojo, and we thought, well -- you're obviously familiar with the place, and you could live on-site, so you wouldn't have to find your way to work every day -- it's not like we're gonna run out of space anytime soon -- and anyway, I'm gettin' rusty, I need someone around to fight who can be a real challenge. Akane's good, but she's no match for me," he said, and then he flinched, reflexively.

"You were expecting her to appear and beat you up when you said that, weren't you?" Ryoga asked, staring up at the deep blue overhead.

"No! Well, maybe. Well, yeah."

"You've changed," Ryoga said. "I mean, you-and-Akane obviously haven't, but a couple of years ago you wouldn't have admitted that."

Ranma shrugged. "So what do you say? Want to come help us out?"

"What's the catch?" he asked.

"Whaddaya mean, 'what's the catch?'" Ranma echoed. "I make you a generous offer - out of the goodness of my heart--"

Ryoga slammed his hands down on the stone, and pulled his strength just enough to keep from crumbling the cliff under him. "You wouldn't _make_ me an offer like that out of the goodness of your heart. _Nobody_ makes me an-- there's gotta be a catch."

Ranma watched him carefully out of the corners of his eyes, and then stretched, casually, and said, "Well, it's not a _catch_ exactly, it's just -- eh. Keeping the dojo runnin' is hard work. Mr. Tendo didn't teach much the last few years - well decades mostly - and you know how useless my dad is. With Kasumi and Nabiki both out of the house," he shrugged. "We're makin' ends meet mostly with prize money, but that means we're not at the dojo enough to get the teachin' part goin' again. So, hey, Ryoga, you want to sign up as partner in a dojo that's got no students, almost no reputation, and a decade of back taxes? We promise to give you an even share of the noodle rations and a futon in an empty bedroom."

"That's more like it," Ryoga said, and then let himself look directly at Ranma, finally. He had a golden aura of clouds right behind him and was almost too bright to look at. "Why would you want me at your dojo, anyway? I'm not trained in the Anything-Goes school."

"What school _are_ you trained in?" Ranma said. "You never really talk about it."

"Hard knocks," Ryoga told him shortly.

"Hn," Ranma said. "Sounds close enough to Anything-Goes to me. Me an' Akane are the only ones who get to say anyway, and we say we want you. And you're a pretty good teacher -- anyone ever tell you that? Best martial arts training I ever had was beating you up."

"You're _serious_ ," Ryoga breathed.

"Dead serious," Ranma said. "And, y'know, it wouldn't _have_ to be an empty bedroom. I bet Akane wouldn't mind having P-chan to keep her warm at night again."

Ryoga whipped his head around. "You and Akane still sleep in separate beds?"

"We're very private people," Ranma said, which, Ryoga noted, didn't really answer question one way or another.

Then a thought occurred to him. "Did you _tell_ her about P-chan?"

"NO! Of course not!"

"And you still wouldn't mind me sleeping with her?"

"Nah. Didn't do any harm before," Ranma said, and smirked.

"Didn't do me a fat lot of _good_ , either," Ryoga muttered. "You aren't really making much of a case for why I'd want to go back with you, y'know. I think I'll just stay here. Or somewhere within five hundred kilometers in any direction from here, as may be."

"Uh," Ranma said. "Well. There was one more thing. If you wanted... youwouldn'thavetobeinpigformtosleepwithus."

Ryoga stared at him. " _What_ did you say?"

Ranma looked away. "Akane an' me talked it over, and, eh. She likes you, and I don't think you're _totally_ awful, and you obviously like her, so, y'know, if it would help you decide, we thought, maybe, you could sleep with us. Both of us. I'd be in girl form of course so it wouldn't be perverted or anything," he added quickly and shot a careful glance at Ryoga.

Ryoga's mind had gone on pause mode while certain images flashed before his eyes and he wasn't capable of putting any thoughts to them.

Ranma waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey! Ryoga! You in there? Idiot! I didn't break you or anything!" He finally smacked him in the head with his own umbrella, and he shook himself and came back.

"Did you... did you just offer me a lesbian threesome with you and your wife?"

"Yeah. Well. I mean. Only if you wanted."

"That's why you were in girl form when you showed up."

He tugged at the bottom of his shirt. "Well, Akane says I'm better at talkin' people in to things when I have breasts."

Ryoga stood up. "How _dare_ you! How dare you barter away Akane's honor like that! Treat your wife like a whore!"

"Hey, I said threesome. I'm bartering away my honor too."

"Fight me," Ryoga said.

"What?"

"Fight me. You've dishonored Akane. For her sake, I challenge you."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding."

"Too much of a coward? Yeah, I suppose a man who would resort to _that_ sort of thing isn't much of a man anyway--"

"Oh you didn't--"

"I did."

It didn't really matter who won the fight. It mattered that they fought. That Ryoga challenged, and Ranma accepted the challenge, and they fought, and they were still perfectly matched, and they were still Ranma and Ryoga. Ryoga hadn't felt so alive in months.

It ended with the two of them rolling down a hillside, clinging together, too pitch-dark for either of them to dare to let go. Gravity and random chance and maybe a little bit of strategy found them at the bottom, both panting for breath, with Ryoga crouched over Ranma, both hands fisted in his shirt.

"Okay," he said.

"Whaa--?" Ranma answered.

"Okay. I'll go back to Tendo Dojo with you."

"Really?" Ranma said, grinning and trying to sit up.

"But we tell Akane about P-chan. I'm tired of lying."

"Okay!"

"...And we tell her that you knew all along and helped me hide it."

"Wait, I'm not--"

"And I get to watch while she beats you up afterward."

"Whatever," Ranma said, and put his chin up.

"And also," Ryoga added, as he helped Ranma stand, "No pimping Akane out."

"I wasn't pimping--" Ranma muttered, but he shut up when Ryoga glared at him.

Then Ryoga said, "...which way is Japan from here, anyway?"

Ranma sighed and produced a length of rope. "Just... tie yourself to me, okay? So we don't get separated on the way home."


End file.
